Spider-Man
hitches a ride with a group heading to New Jersey because he has an engagement
in Leonia…
…where
Doctor Strange is advising Scarlet Witch to keep things quiet in the eighth
month of her pregnancy, calming her fears and telling Vision to make sure she
rests. After Strange leaves, Vision paces the yard, worried about the baby in
the wake of the stress of dealing with Crystal and Pietro’s breakup. Wanda,
meanwhile, is concerned about Vision while worrying about Crystal and Pietro’s
breakup. Peter Parker arrives, photographer for Now Magazine, to take photos
for an article on Wanda and Vision’s home. Pete envies their ability to be
superheroes and also enjoy a normal life. Pete also asks why Vision decided to
permit this article: it’s because they need extra money to pay taxes. Pete
sympathizes; he took the job because he needs some extra cash too….
In
Antarctica, a scientist on a dog sled is surprised when a man rushes up to him,
seemingly from nowhere and asks him if he has a wife. It is a maddened
Quicksilver, trying to justify his rejection of Crystal; he yells at the man some
more then vanishes, leaving the scientist to wonder if he is going mad….
Holly
LaDonna stops by with flowers for Wanda just as Pete goes upstairs to take pix
of the mother-to-be. When he’s done, Peter leaves, wondering if he can give up
being Spider-Man and support himself full time as a photographer. Pete and
Vision run into Illusion and Glamor, and Peter envies their cool magician
lifestyle—but we are let in on a secret: the Zarkovs are secretly classy jewel
thieves, as seen in issue #9. Then they run into Norman Webster and bad blood
from the scandal is evident, Norm wishing he had Crystal back but regretting
losing the friendship of Wanda and Vision. Vision drops Pete off at the bus
stop and heads home, only to be attacked by Toad in a mechanical battle-suit
while proclaiming himself the Terrible Toad-King. His blows deliver an
electrical charge, threatening to short out Vision’s circuits. Then Spider-Man
arrives, reminding Toad he is supposed to be a good guy and Toad clobbers him
and teleports away. Spidey explains to Vision how he met Toad at a low point in
his life and saved him from suicide, befriending him, and putting him in a team
with two other oddballs. Vision tells Spidey about Toad having stolen
technology from the Stranger and now wants to claim Wanda as his bride. The
Toad teleports back to fight the two heroes, feeling betrayed by Spider-Man and
becoming a baddie again. Toad squirts poison gas in Spidey’s face, knocking him
out. Then he teleports in and out until he is able to seize Vision by the head
and short him out. He then heads to the heroes’ home to claim Wanda. Holly sees
him coming up the walk and tries to fight him off with a baseball bat. He moves
inexorably up the stairs toward Wanda’s room and smashes his way in—and then he
sees hugely pregnant Wanda and is repulsed. Insulted, Wanda blasts him back
down the stair where Spider-Man, arriving with Vision, tries to web him up but
Toad teleports away. Anyway, Spidey is impressed with Wanda….